Use AUTO if you don't want to think and are happy to let the camera make the choices. Or use it to let the camera make the choices, and then take note of what choices it made and try to figure out why it made them. In Auto mode you are restricted from changing many of the camera's settings yourself.

Use Scene modes instead of Auto to indicate to the camera the type of scene you are shooting. This means the camera doesn't have to make an educated guess about the type of scene there is.

Use the Guide mode, for a guided way of learning to use various controls and perform various actions.

Use P, A or S mode to allow you to have greater control over settings, but still have the camera choose the image lightness. If you want to use P, A or S modes, then take advantage of the fact that you have a digital cameras. Do this by enabling Auto ISO. In P, A or S modes, you are letting the camera decide how light or dark your image will be, though you can adjust that lightness by changing the "Exposure Compensation" setting. in these modes there is almost never a need for you to change the ISO setting yourself if you can get the camera to do so for you as needed. Since you are trusting the camera to set lightness, and ISO is essentially a lightness control, it usually makes sense to leave the ISO setting to the camera. Setting the ISO value yourself just amounts to putting needless constraints on the camera's choices. You may find that a lot of people who learned on film cameras will not understand this. They are used to setting the ISO value first. With film that was pretty much essential. With digital cameras, it is often counter-productive to set ISO first.

If you do not enable Auto ISO, P, A and S modes mostly do the same thing. You point the camera at a scene and half-depress the shutter release. The camera uses its light meter to set a target image lightness, and sets one or both of the aperture and shutter in order to get the target lightness for the ISO setting you chose. If you turn the command dial, the camera will adjust both the aperture and the shutter speed. The adjustment to the two will be by reciprocal amounts, so the image lightness remains unchanged. If the camera is no longer able to get the desired lightness after you turn the command dial, it will Display "Lo" or "Hi" in the viewfinder. To change the image lightness, turn the command dial while pressing the Exposure Compensation button.

The main difference between P, A or S modes when Auto ISO is not enabled is how the camera chooses which aperture and shutter settings to use to get the target image lightness. In S mode, the came uses whatever shutter setting you last used in S Mode, and changes the aperture to whatever value is necessary in order to get the target lightness. If it is unable to get the target lightness with the aperture wide open, the cameras displays "Lo" in the viewfinder. In A mode the camera uses whatever aperture value you last set and adjusts the shutter speed. If it is unable to get the target lightness at the slowest available shutter speed, the cameras displays "Lo" in the viewfinder. In P mode the camera might change either or both of the aperture and shutter to get the desired lightness. If it is unable to get the target lightness with the aperture wide open, and at the slowest available shutter speed, the cameras displays "Lo" in the viewfinder.

When Auto ISO is enabled, the camera acts similarly, except that if the camera encounters a situation where it would have displayed "Lo" had Auto ISO not been enabled, it will attempt to achieve the target lightness by raising the ISO setting.

I'm just starting out after many years. Someone suggested to start use (A)uto and someone else suggested (P)rogram.

Here's how I use the D3300 (and D5000, and D7200):

* Shoot RAW, Standard Picture Control (you can change all Picture Controls later using the free Nikon software, no reason to worry about it in the field.

* White Balance on Auto. Nikon is very good about selecting the proper WB for each shot. And again, you change it easily later with free Nikon software.

* Active-D Lighting, Auto or Off. Again, you can change it later in the desktop software. There was a recent discussion in which it was stated the camera may adjust the exposure depending on the ADL setting, so maybe it's better off?

* Generally leave ISO on base. 100 or 200 depending the camera model, and change only if necessary for low light.

* Aperture Preferred Mode.

The trick is, how you wish to set up the Autofocus. There are so many options that largely depend on what you're specifically shooting.

The fact that OP has to ask means OP likely has little to no idea what these things are which will cause problems

Bobthearch wrote:

Cheaptoad wrote:

I'm just starting out after many years. Someone suggested to start use (A)uto and someone else suggested (P)rogram.

Here's how I use the D3300 (and D5000, and D7200):

* Shoot RAW, Standard Picture Control (you can change all Picture Controls later using the free Nikon software, no reason to worry about it in the field.

Will cause all sorts of problems and another thread

* Generally leave ISO on base. 100 or 200 depending the camera model, and change only if necessary for low light.

Might lead to unnecessarily blurred photos in low light if/when you forget to change settings

* Aperture Preferred Mode.

Can lead to blown out photos in very bright light

The trick is, how you wish to set up the Autofocus. There are so many options that largely depend on what you're specifically shooting.

Edit: I know that these things can be a very good idea if OP knows what they are doing, or someday if they are willing, wanting, able to learn this stuff. Still if I were a beginner I'd rather just jump in and start shooting without learning the other stuff yet.

I'm just starting out after many years. Someone suggested to start use (A)uto and someone else suggested (P)rogram.

I would use the scene modes and play close attention to what the camera is doing in a scene.

If you use full Auto mode the camera will take a best guess and what you're trying to do, by matching the scene to its internal database of presets. Often it will guess wrong. If you pick a scene mode, say Sports or Landscape, it gives the camera a pretty good hint at what you want to do.

Then you can glance at the settings and see what the camera is doing, and in the future you can duplicate that sort of thing yourself. For example switching from Sports to Landscape you might notice the aperture go from wide-open f/3.5 to f/11. There's a reason!

The fact that OP has to ask means OP likely has little to no idea what these things are which will cause problems

Bobthearch wrote:

Cheaptoad wrote:

I'm just starting out after many years. Someone suggested to start use (A)uto and someone else suggested (P)rogram.

Here's how I use the D3300 (and D5000, and D7200):

* Shoot RAW, Standard Picture Control (you can change all Picture Controls later using the free Nikon software, no reason to worry about it in the field.

Will cause all sorts of problems and another thread

So many of the camera settings are devoted to various Picture Control items, which also take up a good chunk of the manual. Sharpening, contrast, saturation... all part of the Picture Control system.

You can skip all of that in the field by shooting raw and using the Nikon software. Learning the Picture Control functions via the desktop software is more efficient because you can see the effects applied in real-time on the image and computer monitor.

* Generally leave ISO on base. 100 or 200 depending the camera model, and change only if necessary for low light.

Might lead to unnecessarily blurred photos in low light if/when you forget to change settings

It shouldn't. The shutter speed is displayed right on the camera back and in the viewfinder regardless of the shooting mode.

* Aperture Preferred Mode.

Can lead to blown out photos in very bright light

Yes, depending on the metering. Which is also incredibly more complicated and advanced than in film SLRs. It's just something to learn.

The trick is, how you wish to set up the Autofocus. There are so many options that largely depend on what you're specifically shooting.

Edit: I know that these things can be a very good idea if OP knows what they are doing, or someday if they are willing, wanting, able to learn this stuff. Still if I were a beginner I'd rather just jump in and start shooting without learning the other stuff yet.

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No right or wrong, just explaining how I shoot, and how I set up my first DSLR to get out and shooting quickly. My ten-year-old kid has a D3300, and he had no trouble learning the basics with these methods either.

The more 'beginner' that someone is, the more they will benefit from shooting raw.

Not enough Depth of Field. Plus I used the camera's auto focus all day. I think I have to stop doing that.

I doubt you're correct on either of those 2 things. Most lenses that come with a D3400 are pretty small aperture cameras meaning plenty of DOF. And a properly functioning D3400 autofocus is pretty good, at least center point in decent light.

Not enough Depth of Field. Plus I used the camera's auto focus all day. I think I have to stop doing that.

I doubt you're correct on either of those 2 things. Most lenses that come with a D3400 are pretty small aperture cameras meaning plenty of DOF. And a properly functioning D3400 autofocus is pretty good, at least center point in decent light.

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